Kenya Freeman Oduor, Ph.D.
Human-Centered Researcher, Strategist, & Designer
Raleigh-Durham United States (North Carolina)
Professional Status
Employed
Available
About Me
I follow a human-centered approach to solution research, strategy, and design. After nearly 18 years in enterprise software development organizations, I formed Lean Geeks. Lean Geeks, a consulting and staffing firm, helps organizations discover market opportunities and define the most effective solutions for their market.
Leading business strategy and org change in human-centered solution definition and design (Design Thinking) is my strength. I enjoy working with others across organizations from the top-down and bottom-up on defining and implementing processes that lead to better problem definition and improved solution outcomes. I coach cross-functional teams on collaborative discovery, definition, and design processes that are complimentary to Agile methods.
I hold a doctorate in Human Factors Psychology from North Carolina State University. I am an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at N.C. State. I am also Pragmatic Marketing Certified and have Agile Scrummaster and Product Owner training.
I help cultivate the strengths and capabilities of user experience research and design talent embedded within teams. Supporting their ability to successfully work with product management and development is important to a cross-functional product team's ability to collaborate and create successful outcomes.
Technical expertise: Sense-making, broad thinker with experience in user research, requirements gathering and elicitation, information synthesis, ideation, software interface design, product design, innovation, research & development, and process improvement
Interpersonal skills: Adaptable to changing requirements and unexpected obstacles, strategic thinker, risk taker, facilitator, capable of delivering clear and useful feedback, inspire and coach others
Leading business strategy and org change in human-centered solution definition and design (Design Thinking) is my strength. I enjoy working with others across organizations from the top-down and bottom-up on defining and implementing processes that lead to better problem definition and improved solution outcomes. I coach cross-functional teams on collaborative discovery, definition, and design processes that are complimentary to Agile methods.
I hold a doctorate in Human Factors Psychology from North Carolina State University. I am an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at N.C. State. I am also Pragmatic Marketing Certified and have Agile Scrummaster and Product Owner training.
I help cultivate the strengths and capabilities of user experience research and design talent embedded within teams. Supporting their ability to successfully work with product management and development is important to a cross-functional product team's ability to collaborate and create successful outcomes.
Technical expertise: Sense-making, broad thinker with experience in user research, requirements gathering and elicitation, information synthesis, ideation, software interface design, product design, innovation, research & development, and process improvement
Interpersonal skills: Adaptable to changing requirements and unexpected obstacles, strategic thinker, risk taker, facilitator, capable of delivering clear and useful feedback, inspire and coach others
Director, User Experience
LexisNexis
2014
to 2017
- Report to the managing director and responsible for leading the team of user experience architects, researchers, and designers for the enterprise software solutions division
- Led the design of the LexisNexis Experience Innovation Studio's physical space and its contents, as well as, the operational aspects in partnership with NC State. The studio supports collaboration and facilitated engagements with product teams, customers and university faculty, students, and staff
- Successfully facilitated the org-wide implementation of Design Thinking over a 12-month period. Required an evaluation of the end-to-end software development lifecycle (SDLC) to identify opportunities for improvement
- Responsible for working with cross-functional executive leadership to ensure the timely engagement of UX in defining and executing on user research, wireframe creation, and validation
- Coached team members through Six Sigma projects that improved the development team's UI defect mitigation and UI pattern reuse. Also responsible for evangelizing and supporting the implementation of these improvements
